Monday, April 26, 1998
Center offers break from constant care
BY DEBORAH KENDRICK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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If you go
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What: Open house at the St. Joseph Home Harold C. Schott Respite Center.
When: 1:30-3:30 p.m. today.
Where: 10722 Wyscarver Road, Sharonville.
Information: 563-2520.
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For Vicki and Steve Midkiff of Westwood, there were times in their 18 years of marriage when it seemed that pregnancy was just not possible.
Patience and persistence finally led them to a special procedure that would allow them to conceive a baby that was biologically theirs.
Although Vicki spent three months of her 35-week pregnancy in a hospital bed, the twins, David and Andrew, were born April 8, 1997.
That Andrew was having difficulty was suspected early in the pregnancy. ''I would lie in bed and chew on ice chips,'' Vicki recalls, in her desperate attempt to get Andrew to respond to reflex tests performed each day on her in utero babies. ''David would be reactive; Andrew almost never was.''
Although he had ''odd facial features'' at birth, doctors could not diagnose a particular syndrome or condition. The Midkiffs only know that something went wrong early in Andrew's development.
Since his release from the hospital at 4 months, Andrew has required 24-hour care. He is fed through a feeding tube in his stomach. He is dependent on an oxygen tank. He has had several surgeries and visited the emergency room at least once a month.
Through the family's private insurance, Andrew's equipment and medications have been mostly covered. Steve's salary as a woodworker at Appletree Design Work made them just barely eligible for home nursing care through Medicaid; Andrew receives up to 10 hours nursing care a day, which the Midkiffs use to provide them with time to sleep.
David weighs 20 pounds, Andrew, 14. David is crawling, pulling up on furniture, beginning to form words, while Andrew can grip a finger, make sounds and scoot enough in his crib to terrify his mother that a tube might be pulled loose from his body.
Doctors say Andrew is losing deep white matter in the brain, the part that controls coordination. They say his development may not progress much beyond its current measure of about 2ï months.
No matter how devoted Andrew's parents might be, all parents need time away to restore energy and revitalize themselves for their children. For parents of significantly disabled or medically fragile children, finding such care can be impossible.
Today, St. Joseph Home, a Sharonville residential care facility for children and young adults with severe disabilities, celebrates the opening of its Harold C. Schott Respite Center, the first of its kind in the Tristate. Qualifying families can leave their children or young adults at the center for a single overnight or a few weeks, and know that they are receiving 24-hour professional nursing care.
The Midkiffs were among the first to apply and have been assured that the $210 per day cost will be covered by Medicaid. (No family will be turned away for lack of funding.) ''Community businesses have been very generous,'' says Mitchell Snyder, director of development for St. Joseph's, ''in contributing to our Family Respite Access Fund for families who just can't afford the cost of bringing their children here.''
While the Midkiffs have no immediate plans to take advantage of the respite care, Vicki knows that now that when they do take a vacation, Andrew will get the care he needs.
Like any mother, there is a trace of reluctance at the thought of leaving her child with others, but she knows that eventually she will take advantage of St. Joseph's Respite Center.
''I've visited St. Joseph's and know that when Andrew is there, I'll feel confident that he's being taken care of,'' she says.
''I'll know that he's going to be safe.''
Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. Write: Deborah Kendrick, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; e-mail: 71340.473@compuserve.com.
KENDRICK ARCHIVE
